Singer Meesha Shafi has won a defamation case in the UK against ARY’s broadcaster New Vision TV (NVTV). The case was settled out of court, with the channel airing an official apology.

 

NVTV admitted that its broadcast had created a “misunderstanding” and stated: “We are sorry if our broadcast caused Meesha Shafi any distress.”

 

The case was related to a report aired by ARY UK on December 5, 2020. In 2023, a UK High Court ruled that the broadcast was defamatory towards Meesha. The court found that the channel wrongly claimed Meesha Shafi was deliberately avoiding court orders in Pakistan over a period of two years.

 

The court also said the channel portrayed Meesha as “someone who does not comply with legal requirements laid down by a court and engages in such behaviour repeatedly.”

 

A clip from the original broadcast, submitted in court, stated, “She [Shafi] came to Pakistan, did her work and left. Singer Meesha Shafi threw the court orders to the winds. She came to Pakistan, recorded a song and then returned to Canada. She did not present herself in court. Ali Zafar has filed a defamation lawsuit against Meesha.”

 

The High Court noted that such statements could seriously damage Meesha's image. It stated: “Such an assertion would have the tendency of lowering the claimant [Meesha] in the estimation of right-thinking people generally... Given the claimant’s standing, the words complained of are likely to have a seriously adverse impact on the way the claimant is treated.”

 

The court also acknowledged that Meesha Shafi is a “very high-profile Pakistani celebrity” known for supporting women’s rights.

 

In 2018, Meesha Shafi accused singer and actor Ali Zafar of sexual harassment a case that became one of Pakistan’s most high-profile #MeToo moments. In response, Zafar filed a Rs1 billion defamation case against her, and she later filed a counter defamation suit.

 

Her original harassment complaint was dismissed in 2019 on technical grounds. However, in 2021, the Supreme Court of Pakistan agreed to hear her appeal to decide whether her case falls under the country’s workplace harassment law.